


The Spirits of the Heroes

by withcameraandpen



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/M, Ocarina of Time, Skyward Sword, Twilight Princess, Wind Waker, link's awakening, zelink but not a heavy focus on it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:28:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26333404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/withcameraandpen/pseuds/withcameraandpen
Summary: Unable to move on from feeling like he failed his duty, Link visits the burial sites of past Hylian heroes to hear the wisdom of his previous incarnations and find the courage to lay down his sword.
Relationships: Link/Zelda (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 33





	The Spirits of the Heroes

The Hero of the Skies was buried on the grounds of the Forgotten Temple. 

With the aid of his paraglider, Link sailed effortlessly around the rogue Guardians that stood vigil in the ancient ruins, leaving behind the chilly morning light at the mouth of the cavern. Malice still stuck to this handful of creatures, but Link couldn’t bring himself to destroy them for the sake of his safety. Zelda so loved researching them; he could hear her reproach in the back of his mind at the mere thought of destroying them. _With these specimens, we study the resilience and strength of the Malice and engineer a reproducible cleanser! Don’t hurt them!_

He bobbed and wove around the Guardians defending the temple entrance proper, sailing through the doorway and into the safety of the temple. He pocketed the paraglider as he walked past the Rona Kachta Shrine, overseen by the gargantuan Goddess Statue. This statue was the largest of its kind in Hyrule, but it was buried here with one of the oldest of Hyrule’s legends. It was that legend Link wished to hear.

He knelt at the base of the statue and prayed, but instead of begging for strength and spirit from the Goddess, he asked for a different kind of blessing from a different idol. “Hero of the Skies,” he murmured. “I need your help.”

He waited. Usually the Goddess’s voice would ring clear as a bell in his mind, bestowing aid and wisdom to help him rescue of Hyrule. But no voice entered his mind, and the temple was chilly and dark as ever. “Please, Hero of the Skies,” he said, louder this time. “I need your wisdom!”

“Usually people ask for courage from their heroes.”

Link shot to his feet and whipped around. Standing there was a young man surrounded by teal will-o’-the-wisps, whose gentle light painted his bright smile and kind eyes in green. He wore a green tunic like the one Link had found in this very temple as well as a white sash around his neck. He glanced around, put his hands on his hips, and said, “Quite the final resting place for someone who came from the skies. I suppose being the first King of Hyrule comes with its perks.”

Instinctively, Link knelt before him. The Hero of the Skies laughed. “Don’t bow to me. We’re kin - if not ancestrally, then at least spiritually.”

He rose. “An honor nonetheless.”

“The honor’s all mine. I’d ask your name,” he said with a laugh, “but I have a sneaking suspicion I know what it is. Why have you called me, young hero? Oughtn’t you be vanquishing foes and saving the world?”

“That’s just it.” Link swallowed past the lump in his throat. “The Calamity’s over. Ganon’s sealed. I don’t know what to do next.”

“Oh.” Confusion crossed the Hero of the Skies’ face as he gestured at Link’s right shoulder. “I see you still bear the Master Sword.”

“Of course, I do.”

The Hero of the Skies’ head tilted. “Why would you keep it if your journey is over?”

“Because what if it isn’t?” He and Zelda were working so hard to rebuild Hyrule after its apocalypse. Despite deactivating scores of Guardians, rebuilding entire towns, and training new pilots for the Divine Beasts, it didn’t feel like enough. “What if something else happens and I need the sword?”

“The Master Sword is a weapon imbued with godly power and should be wielded against only the greatest of evils,” he tutted. “If you already felled your malefactor, you should have returned it to its resting place.”

Link backed away from him, heart racing. His palm itched to draw that very sword to protect him from the Hero’s words. “How was I supposed to know? I had no guide to tell me how to be the hero!”

“You know in your heart that the time is right. We’re destined to carry great burdens, but we’re not meant to carry that burden forever.” He looked at the Goddess Statue looming above, and his stern expression melted into full-blown bittersweet sadness. “The Goddess Hylia would not curse us so.”

His words brought to mind the torment Zelda put herself through to unlock her sealing power. She froze herself in holy springs, prayed for hours a day, and traveled across Hyrule in the hopes that she would find the favor of the Goddess. All of that devotion went unanswered, and her kingdom lost faith in her. Link himself became a symbol of hope that everyone hedged their bet upon; it made failure such a non-option that he nearly stopped speaking. What merciful goddess would do that? “The Goddess must have been kinder in your time.”

The Hero’s eyes narrowed. “Excuse me?”

“A lot has changed between your time and mine,” Link retorted. “Clearly the Goddess has, too.”

“Listen well, young hero.” The Hero of the Skies drew himself up to his full height. His brow furrowed, which looked unexpectedly harsh on such a kind face. “Hylia has her people’s best interests at heart. She would sacrifice anything for them.”

“And she has forced her people to sacrifice, too! The princess suffered so much from the weight of her duty and the expectations upon it. The Goddess withheld her power--I don’t know why, but Hyrule, too, suffered for it. Does that strike you as the actions of a benevolent power?”

The Hero of the Skies went silent and folded his arms, glaring down at Link. “Why do you seek my advice when you act as though you know everything?”

“Like you can claim to know the heart of a goddess!”

“I came awfully close.”

“Then why would she do this?” he pleaded. “Why would she force us to suffer?”

“You are not the only hero to have suffered.” He toyed with the knot on the sash around his neck. “As I said, our burden is heavy. And we are often subject to the whims of goddesses to do their bidding. And we do it because we want to protect the world.”

“I did it because no one else could!” He was the only one the Master Sword chose. The only swordsman who had a hope of standing against Ganon. How could he turn away? “No one could do what I did.”

The Hero of the Skies regarded him thoughtfully, eyes narrowed and lips pursed. “So that is why you still carry the sword.”

“And why is that?”

“Because you are still fighting.” The Hero of the Skies visibly relaxed. “My apologies for my anger. My princess and I were pushed into this, too, and we suffered for it as well. And our destinies shaped your destiny in turn. You and your Zelda have suffered much because me and my Zelda did not know what else to do. And for that, I am deeply sorry.”

Link started to relax. “No harm done.”

“Great harm was done by the sound of it.” The Hero of the Skies walked forward again and set a spectral hand on Link’s shoulder. “You are fighting like you’re still cornered. Did you and the princess see your evil’s fall?”

Link nodded.

“Do you have faith in what you saw?”

Link hesitated, then nodded.

“Then put down the sword. As its first master, I know when it is finished fighting.”

He started to fade away, but he regained that kind look in his eyes. “This is my wisdom, young hero: the war is over. You need not soldier on.”

The Hero of Winds had a memorial in the hills of Lurelin Village.

Link followed the well-worn but overgrown path through the village to a tiny, secluded spring. A deck stood on one section of the bank, flanked by two torches that were already lit in the midday sun. Zelda had gone searching among those royal records that survived the Calamity and pinpointed this as the memorial for the Hero of Winds. She said he’d recognize the Hylian crest carved on the rock, but he could see no such crest. There was only a small waterfall that streamed down from the cliffs above. 

A voice beside him said, “The heraldry’s gone.”

Link turned. Beside him was another spirit leaning against the deck’s banister and taking in the sights. Mischief danced in his eyes and he wore a smile that was so sweet it bordered on naive. It was the Hero of Winds. “Glad to see Hyrule made something of itself again. Last time I was here, this was all underwater.”

“Really?”

The Hero of Winds nodded. “Must be an act of the Goddesses to lift you out. But that’s a tale for another time.”

He peered over Link’s shoulder and raised an eyebrow. “You haven’t put down the sword.”

“No, I haven’t.” He folded his arms and looked anywhere but at the Hero. “It was an issue with the last guy, but I’d rather not go into that incident.”

The Hero of Winds nodded. “Fair enough. Why have you called me, young hero?”

“I need your wisdom. I--I know I should return the Master Sword to its resting place. I can feel it in my bones, and I know my fight is over. Ganon is gone. But I can’t let it go.”

He frowned. “What does that mean? You physically can’t part with it? You can’t get back to its resting place? Your princess wants you to keep it around?”

“ _I_ want to keep it.” His finger traced over the strap that ran across his chest, finding comfort in the familiar sensation. “I fear that if I part with it again, some other great danger will appear and by the time I retrieve it, it’ll be too late.”

“Got a lot on your mind, buddy.” The Hero of Winds turned around to face the sea. The look on his face was far-off and wistful. “You know, I’m glad I got to see the old country, but I’ll always love New Hyrule. We saved this world, but Tetra and I built that one.”

Link’s heart ached. “We’re rebuilding our Hyrule. I could use some wisdom on that.”

He shrugged. “You do the best you can for as many people as you can. It’s tough but well worth it. Tetra was great at decision making--boy, once she makes up her mind, there’s nothing that can change it! Luckily, I was there to help calm things down when she got particularly heated. She’s a real firecracker.”

Link drew slowly towards him, in awe of the Hero of Winds’ carefree attitude. The way he talked about this Tetra and the way he spoke of creating New Hyrule was so optimistic and friendly that it made him seem totally unaffected by what he had done.

“I don’t know how to say this in a polite way,” he began carefully.

The Hero of Winds waved him off. “Be rude. We’re family.”

Link let out a nervous laugh. “You don’t seem…”

“Like a hero of destiny?”

“Haunted.”

“Same thing.” He shrugged again, and he turned his glassy-eyed stare out to the calm sea, mirrors that obstructed the truth rather than reveal it. “When I was first called, I had to ignore my fear just to press on. But eventually I had to confront all that fear and choose to let it go.”

Link scoffed. How do people just stop being afraid? Being blessed with courage didn’t mean he lacked fear!

The Hero of Winds laughed at Link. “Tetra also laughed in my face when I told her that. She was going through it, too, and eventually she admitted it helped. I’ll tell you what I told her then.”

He peeled off the banister and gestured to the waterfall that cascaded quietly into the spring. “The Hylian crest was once carved into that rock. And then as Hyrule shifted and changed by the will of the Goddesses, this stream opened up and weathered down the crest until there’s no sign it was ever there.”

Link swallowed past the hard lump in his throat. “Now you’re all but forgotten.”

Link had lost so much of his memory that he had no idea what his life was like before the Calamity. Because of that, he only knew who he was when fighting to save Hyrule. Who was he without bloodshed as his backdrop? What was a soldier without a battle? “How can you be okay with that?”

The Hero of Winds seemed unperturbed. “I defended Hyrule, but I was never part of it. I’m remembered in the country I helped found.” He flashed Link a warm smile and patted him on the back. It didn’t help. “I chose to keep moving forward because I had a new country to protect, and I couldn’t ward off a new threat if I was still fighting an old one. See what I mean?”

Link was silent, dread building in his stomach. The Hero of Winds sat down on the deck and dipped his legs into the spring. The water’s surface rippled and then calmed as he began to fade away. “Here is my wisdom, young hero: time really does heal, but each person has to make a choice to move forward.”

The Hero of Legend was buried on Eventide Island.

Link sailed across the ocean to reach the tiny island that had bestowed upon him his greatest challenge. But even the journey to the island became a challenge; he fought the outgoing tide and the capricious winds the whole time, sailing until the sun dipped low on the horizon. “None of these heroes could be buried anywhere convenient, huh?”

Again, he could hear Zelda’s voice in the back of his mind. Maybe she’d laugh, but then she’d say, _It keeps the spirit of the hero alive, doesn’t it? They rest in the most unattainable of places._

He could picture Zelda, too, sitting on the raft and capturing the setting sun on the Sheikah Slate. He wanted to record that view, too, with the sunlight glinting off her hair, her expression as she put down the Slate to take in the view through her own eyes. And then she’d look up at him with those happy, glowing eyes, and he’d forget everything else in the world but her.

The raft drew close to Eventide Island. He leaped into the waist-high water, grasped the rope tied around the mast, and pulled the raft toward the shore. But the waves fought him and an errant wind caught the sail, yanking the raft back out to sea and Link with it.

A pair of glowing, spectral hands wrapped around the rope and pulled the raft back toward land. Link looked and found the Hero of Legend at his side, fighting the tug of the tide. Link recognized the yellow-banded hat that whipped in the wind: all the heroes so far wore similar clothing, but it was this hero’s gear he was given in the Forgotten Temple.

“On three!” he called over the whistling wind. “One, two, three!”

Together they pulled the raft ashore, hiking it up far on the beach so the water couldn’t rip it away. “Thanks for your help,” said Link. “I would have been stranded without you.”

“I’ve been in quite a few ocean storms,” the Hero of Legend replied with a shrug. “Why have you called me, young hero?”

Link fiddled with the strap of the Master Sword’s sheath. “It’s a long story.”

The Hero of Legend gestured to the beach. “Then let’s take a walk.”

Link followed the Hero of Legend along the beach, a picturesque tableau that hid a biting trial underneath. The Hero of Legend seemed more mature than the other spirits Link had met; he carried himself with a dutiful surety, and his eyes seemed much older than the rest of him. He listened quietly to Link, who spun a long tale of misery and questions.

“…And so, when the Hero of Winds told me to forget what happened to me, it became that much more difficult. How can I just forget it all, especially since I know so little of who I am without the Calamity?”

The Hero of Legend was quiet for a long moment. The sun had dipped low upon the horizon by then. Its deep red light glimmered upon the waves. “No one will ever forget your fight against evil, least of all yourself,” he said finally. “No one can erase your great sacrifice.”

That dread returned to Link’s stomach. He had sacrificed everything in his fight against the Calamity, and it still wasn’t enough. 

The Hero of Legend continued, “But the way I see it, the way to honor your sacrifices is to move on and live well. I’ve been on entire adventures that evaporated in the blink of an eye, but the fact that they ended doesn’t mean the adventures didn’t exist.”

The Hero of Legend gazed up at Koholit Rock, a massive boulder that cast a long shadow over them. “We memorialize what we do as an act of respect for our sacrifice, and an act of healing for ourselves. Now we aren’t the only ones who know what happened. I named this island for one such adventure. I had to preserve those memories somehow. I had to make it real.”

The Hero was gazing down the beach again. The wisdom of far too many years weighed down his shoulders and tired his eyes. “I couldn’t be the only one who knew about Koholint Island. So, I named this place after it, and then lived on and told its story. Maybe the legend of the Wind Fish is no longer spoken, but it was remembered for a long time. And for me, that is enough.”

“Is that what you want me to do?” asked Link. “Build a memorial to the Calamity?”

“If you feel that would help, then yes. Do what you feel honors your sacrifices. That may be constructing a memorial. That may be something else.” They walked back towards the raft, which the Hero of Legend began pushing back into the sea. 

Link raised an eyebrow. “Am I being dismissed?”

“It won’t do you well to linger in a place of tragedy and hardship.” He smirked. “You’re already lingering far too long in your own. You have the right idea, though.”

“I do?”

“Of course. You’re reaching out to other heroes. And while we have some insight for you, I think what helps is seeking the wisdom of the living. They know your world better than I do.”

Together they pushed the raft back into the sea. Link hesitated, and then climbed on. “Thank you.”

“Thank you for visiting this place and keeping it in your memory. This is my wisdom, young hero: enjoying your life and the people within it can be its own memorial to your hardships.”

And then the wind kicked up, the raft set off, and the Hero of Legend vanished before Link’s eyes.

The Hero of Twilight was buried on Hylia Island, smack dab in the middle of Lake Hylia.

Link used a more careful route than his first time, riding his horse to the bridge and then climbing down the hills until he reached the raft tied at the banks. He was being conscientious in his travels, now that the Sheikah Slate had returned to its rightful place: in Purah’s hands. He felt so vulnerable without it, so unprotected. But Ganon was gone. Ganon was gone. Ganon was gone. 

Again, he sailed, but the wind wasn’t such a problem in the lake basin as it was on the open sea. He made landfall on the shore of Hylia Island, tied up the raft, and walked inward. He walked to the top of the steep decline leading to the Ya Naga Shrine. He found the spirit of the Hero of Twilight already sitting on the Shrine platform to watch the herons stroll about. He was much more thickset than the others, with a rounder middle and fuller cheeks. He looked like a content man.

“I could hear you from the bridge,” explained the Hero of Twilight. “Your spirit’s lost, but I’m glad you made it to me. The others apparently didn’t help much.”

Link frowned. “You know I talked to the others?”

The Hero of Twilight stood up, dusted himself off, and climbed to the top of the hill. “I know the look of someone who’s been talking to shades.”

He pointed up the rocky barrier that shielded the Shrine from view. “Can we sit there? I love the view of the bridge.”

Together they climbed the rocky ridge and sat to take in the view of the Bridge of Hylia under the full moon. The Hero of Twilight sighed happily. “I was once chased off a bridge just like that.”

“Is that how you died?”

“Funny.” The Hero of Twilight shot him a stern look, but he couldn’t stop himself from smirking. “I was one of the lucky ones. I died of old age in my little ranch town. After a life of adventuring, I came back home and lived quietly.”

Even now, Link’s heart thudded as his eyes swept the lake surface and scoped out the bridge. A handful of Lizalfos used to live there, and they would have a great shot of them if they were armed with bows. “I didn’t know a quiet life was possible for heroes.”

“It helps when you stop thinking of yourself as a hero.” The Hero of Twilight clenched his left fist, then flexed his hand. “I got caught up in a war fought by more powerful people than me. I did my duty as the gods declared, and then, with my destiny fulfilled, I stopped being a hero.”

Link stared at him in shock. Leaving the heroic life behind had never occurred to him. The Hero of Twilight continued, “Not that I set out to cause chaos. I did my best to help the people that needed it, but I wanted to be my own master.”

“I never had a chance to be my own master,” Link replied thoughtfully. “My father was a decorated knight. Even if I wasn’t the bearer of the Master Sword, I was going to be a knight no matter what. Maybe that’s why a quiet life never occurred to me.”

“When I was called to my destiny, I was a farm boy who had no idea about the world that lay beyond the bridge. One day our village was invaded, and the children were kidnapped, and I had no choice but to obey the whims of rulers to ensure their safety. It’s not the same, but I do know what it’s like to be pushed around.”

Link frowned. “Didn’t you want to save the world?”

“Yes, but for the person who eventually silenced Ganon, I knew infuriatingly little about what was happening at any given time. They ordered me, and I did as they bid.”

“But you were the hero!”

“I was a powerful pawn, but still only a pawn.” A muscle jumped in his jaw. “Why should they trust a farm boy whose only combat experience was the scarecrow in his yard?”

Link was enraptured as he told his story. Such a humble warrior who had attained greatness, and then refused the title of hero? He continued, “I earned the trust of one of my compatriots, who started feeding me bits and pieces of what I needed to know. Some I had figured out, and some was utterly incomprehensible to me. I grew to respect her and earned her deep friendship, but she used me for her own purposes in the beginning. Everyone did. It was because of them I resolved never to become a pawn again.”

The Hero of Twilight smiled wryly. “But I’m here to help you. So, young hero, why have you called me?”

Link said nothing. What did he do? Did he just walk away from the life of the hero? Travel Hyrule at his leisure, or settle down in that house in Hateno?

“You just left.” He stared incredulously at the Hero of Twilight. “You just left when your job was done?”

He nodded. “Hyrule was in good hands, the princess and the children were safe, and my friend was gone. I had no other cause to serve.”

“I still don’t understand. How could you lay down arms and just keep living?”

“It wasn’t easy.” A shooting star streaked across the night sky. “I was visited by a shade of a former hero. He was so haunted from being unable to pass on his wisdom that he felt compelled to teach it to me. He couldn’t rest until someone else knew what he learned. I decided I didn’t want that to happen to me, so I made sure I settled down with a ranch, a wife, and children who were tougher to wrangle than the goats. I trained them how to fight, but I did my best to protect them from ever using their training.”

“But…” Link fumbled for his words. “I still feel the pull of my destiny. I feel it’s not complete, even though we vanquished Ganon.”

The Hero of Twilight chuckled. “In a way, I feel marrying my wife was my destiny. It may not be ordained by the gods, but I don’t think I could have escaped her if I wanted to.”

“Really?”

He nodded again. “We had always been friends, and we lived in a small village. We would likely have ended up marrying even if we didn’t fall as hard as we did. I hope you find someone you love so much that even while the fate of the world hangs in the balance, all you can think of is their safety. She was taken with the children when the village invaded; it was only when she was gone that I realized how deeply her absence cut me.”

Link thought of his yearlong journey through Hyrule, scouring the lands for Malice until he fought Ganon. All the while, his goal was the same as it had been one hundred years ago: to save Zelda. “Is she buried here, too?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Ask her.” He looked off toward far coast. “I passed first. I wanted to be buried with her, but she never liked how quiet I was about my heroics. I suppose she wanted to honor me in death, since I hardly let her do it in life.”

Link stared at him for a long time. He felt some of Zelda’s incredible scientific curiosity seep into him, so puzzled and so intrigued by the Hero of Twilight. For two heroes of Hyrule, they were as different as light and dark.

He chuckled, sensing his stare. “It will do you well to learn what you like and don’t like. Bearing the Master Sword is a heavy burden, and people count on its divine justice. The hand that wields it is forgotten in the crisis.”

Link smirked. “I don’t think you were nearly as powerless as you believe.”

The Hero of Twilight cocked an eyebrow. “Oh, really?”

“People need the Master Sword, but only one is worthy of bearing it, and you could have asked anything of them if you threatened to take the sword and disappear,” he said. “You had a lot of leverage, but you didn’t use it. You were the leader of the fight against evil, but you didn’t turn away because they needed you.”

“Of course, I didn’t,” he retorted. “How could I when people were in danger?”

“Exactly.”

The Hero of Twilight replied, “I didn’t choose that. I only followed my own principle.”

“Does someone choose your principles for you, great hero?”

The Hero of Twilight blinked, and then his face melted into a smile. “Why did you come here for wisdom when it seems like you have everything figured out?”

Link laughed. “I don’t, but you taught me something. You taught me more than the other spirits did.”

“And what was that, young hero?”

“You taught me what I didn’t want.”

The Hero of Twilight’s smile widened. “Good. You know, I think that shade was onto something when he taught me his combat arts. We heroes ought to learn from each other. The princesses have royal records, but what do we have? Ghosts and stories.”

The Hero of Twilight finally climbed to his feet. Link followed suit. “This is my wisdom, young hero: learn about yourself, and learn what you want.”

Link faltered. “That’s a tall order for me.”

The Hero of Twilight chuckled and ruffled Link’s hair. “Tall order for anyone,” he said as he faded before his eyes.

The Hero of Time didn’t have a grave, but Link found him easily enough in the Lost Woods.

Of all the places in Hyrule, even that house that was suspiciously familiar to him in Hateno, the Lost Woods felt the most like home after his resurrection. This place felt timeless, blotting out the dawn light and enveloping him in mist and magic. He knew the safe path through the woods, so Link wandered within its bounds until out of the mist, a hero in green appeared with a gnarled scar that permanently closed his eye. His helmet was battered and his face friendly, though like the Hero of Legend, there was an old, sad wisdom in his eyes. His smile was gentle and full of relief.

Link spoke first. “Hello, ancient hero.”

“I am not so ancient,” said the Hero of Time, “nor are you so young. Am I right?”

Link nodded. “It’s a long story.”

“I know the look of a man out of time.” He gestured over Link’s shoulder. “Have you come to put down the sword?”

“Almost.” He clutched the strap of the sheath. “I’m not ready yet.” 

Link walked toward him, but the Hero of Time put out a hand. “Careful. If you stray too far from the path, you’ll be whisked away. You could very well end up like me.”

Link’s eyes widened. “What happened to you?”

“It’s a long story.” The breeze picked up around them, the fog rolling in between them. That sadness deepened in his eyes. “Why have you called me?”

Link took a deep breath. “I have asked for the help of other heroes. I still fear Ganon’s rise, even though I saw Zelda destroy him myself. I feel scared to lay the Master Sword to rest once again, and I asked them what to do.”

“And what did they tell you?”

“They told me to let go of my fear. And I think I’m starting to. I want to.”

The Hero of Time grinned proudly. “That’s half the battle.”

“But I can’t move on. I - I failed. I let the Calamity fall.”

“How so? Evil was vanquished.”

“Ganon almost killed me when he first rose. It was only by a miracle that I survived, but I spent a hundred years healing from his strike. That’s a century of suffering because I wasn’t good enough.”

“And what of the princess?”

“She kept the Calamity restrained within Hyrule Castle, but she was all alone all that time. She needed me, and I wasn’t there.”

“Listen well, young hero.” The Hero of Time’s face was stern but not unkind. “You are not a failure. You gave everything you had twice over - am I right? - and eventually stopped Ganon. In the meantime, the princess did all she could to buy you time, and it worked. You are no failure. In fact, I think you’ve given more to your fight against evil than most other incarnations of us. How many can say they lay their life on the line twice?”

Link’s knees gave out as he lowered to the grass, rocked by this revelation. He had ached for absolution but never dreamed he would actually get it. The relief swept over him like a riptide, destroying everything he previously thought. “…Thank you.”

“Of course. Heroes are so rarely relieved of their burdens.”

Silence fell. The Calamity was not his fault. He was not a failure. He hadn’t failed Hyrule. And yet…

“I don’t feel ready to put down the sword,” he choked out. “I don’t know what it takes to move on. I mean, the Hero of Legend told me that it was up to me, but I still have no idea what helps. I don’t know where to look.”

“You look inward,” the Hero of Time said. “None of us can tell you what will heal your soul. Only you know the answer.”

“But I don’t know who I am!” Link cried out. “Ganon took my memories from me. I can’t remember a thing about myself!”

“Not remembering and not knowing yourself are two different things.”

He clutched at the ground, digging his fingers into the soft dirt. “Then tell me what I should do!”

“I can’t.” The Hero of Time’s face softened. “You don’t remember who you used to be, but you were never going to be who you used to be, anyway. Your fight against evil irrevocably changed you, like it changed all of us; some of your changes are much clearer than ours, I grant you that. But even if you retained your memories, you would have been different from your old self all the same.”

The Hero of Time took a few tentative steps forward, eyes on the predatory fog. It was almost as though they were both bound by that fog; Link could not stray from the path, and the Hero of Time couldn’t come too close to it or else be whisked away again. “Think not of what you may want. Start with what you don’t want.”

The unfettered face of the Hero of Twilight came to mind. “I don’t want a quiet life. Maybe someday, but not for a long time.”

“Good. What else?”

He thought of the Hero of Winds’ complete acceptance of his memorial being washed away. As Link climbed to his feet, he said “I don’t want what happened to be forgotten.”

“Excellent. What else?”

Zelda’s face burst into his mind, fiery and yet gentle, powerful and graceful. “I want to protect Zelda, but I want to give her more. I want to give her whatever she would have from me.”

The Hero of Time’s face started to lighten as Link came closer. “Let me ask you this. Do you still want to help and protect people?”

Link had always known that answer. “Yes.”

“So, what is left?”

Link thought for a long moment. He wanted to help people, he wanted to memorialize the tragedy, and he wanted to make Zelda happy. “I stay at her side. I give Zelda everything I am.”

“Be careful.” The Hero of Time lay a hand on his shoulder. “I once gave myself to the crown, too, because I wanted to help protect Hyrule. I stayed deeply loyal to that crown, even when they called me away from my family over and over.”

His face fell. “One day, forces invaded the Lost Woods and the princess asked me to defend them. Because I was loyal to both her and the Deku Tree, I agreed. But it had been some time since I had returned, so I didn’t know the path as well as I once did. And I was lost before I could ever meet my child.”

That aching sadness returned to him. Their eyes met, and Link saw ages of grief pouring out of him. “This is my wisdom, young hero: it is good to have a purpose, but do not sacrifice yourself to fulfill it. Once is enough.”

The Hero of Time started to fade away, but the ache in his heart stayed with Link.

The Hero of the Wild took his time in choosing how he would be buried.

First, Link went back to Hyrule Castle and told Zelda all he had learned. And then he confessed to her that he could not bear to be parted with her, and that if she would have him, he would never leave her side. Zelda threw herself into his arms and cried happy tears. One hundred years of devotion were returned to her in that instant, and he would continue to return them as long as he would live.

Together they became the beacon of light that guided Hyrule Kingdom. Link raised, trained, and commanded a new army, who he taught to decommission Guardians without utterly destroying them. Zelda created aid programs and infrastructure projects that would one day become the shining New Castle Town and the other outposts in Hyrule Field. Eventually, when things calmed down and the big, structural worries gave way to day-to-day issues, Link asked Zelda to accompany him on a journey.

They traveled together to the Lost Woods. They both knew the path, but they clung tightly to one another as they avoided the mist and followed the embers (he had told Zelda about the fate of the Hero of Time, and neither wanted to test the Lost Woods’ tenacity). When they reached the Korok Forest, the Deku Tree greeted them both like old friends.

“Have you given him your message, Princess?” the Deku Tree asked, his voice both booming and gentle.

Zelda nodded with a smile. “I was glad to deliver it.”

Link walked up to the lone pedestal sitting upon the dais in the grass. His hands trembled as he reached behind him and unsheathed the Master Sword. He held it above the pedestal, its point inches away.

His heart raced. Questions burned in his mind: _what if Ganon returns? What if I’m not worthy of the sword when I need it again?_

A hand stroked his back. Zelda’s voice said, “I’m right here.”

Link took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and returned the Master Sword to its resting place to wait for the next hero.

They were married in New Castle Town with much pomp, circumstance, and promise for an even brighter future. And they lived and ruled well, merciful and just. Before long, Zelda was teaching a daughter how to channel the sacred sealing power, and Link was teaching a son how to wield a sword.

Eventually their daughter took the throne, vowing to continue the reconstruction and restoration of Hyrule.

Link convinced Zelda to retire to that house in Hateno, where the climate eased Link’s whiny joins and where Zelda could continue her research with Purah. Maybe the Hero of Twilight was onto something; after decades of royal service, a quiet life with a wife unburdened by her own crown had simple but strong pleasures.

Zelda was always going to be buried among royalty. But Link? Only when Zelda brought up the question did he know what he wanted.

“Is this necessary, Zelda?” he asked, holding his cup of tea in his knotted hands. “We’ve got plenty of life left in us. We don’t have to discuss this now.”

“Discussing it was necessary decades ago.” She sat beside him. Her golden hair had faded to mostly white, but it retained its youthful shimmer. “But neither of us wanted to confront the question. Where do you want to be buried?”

Link fell silent, thinking back to his encounters with the heroes so long ago. Zelda grew restless beside him. “You know, it’s your choice if you would like to be buried in the royal crypt with me. It’s your decision, but I daresay our children and grandchildren would appreciate the short distance to both of us. And I know I would like to rest with you.”

He reached for Zelda’s hand and weighed the words of the Hero of Time. He had lived a long, dutiful life, and he was lucky that raising a family was part of that duty - Hyrule needed an heir, after all. How did he memorialize the Great Calamity? How did he tell the story of what happened?

“Hmm. Maybe the Great Plateau is it.”

She was taken aback. “Why there? It’s a wasteland.”

“And so was Hyrule while I was interred in the Shrine of Resurrection. Besides, it would make a sort of sense, right? It was where I returned from the dead, and I return there upon my death once again.”

Zelda’s brow furrowed. “I don’t know. You’re so far away, and I know I’d like to visit you if you go first.”

Zelda would want to visit, their children and grandchildren would want to visit, and, he guessed, future heroes might want to visit him to receive his wisdom. All those other heroes were adventurers right to the end; but he had become a dutiful servant to the crown, a doting husband, a loving father, and a protector of Hyrule. He didn’t want his resting place to be surrounded by ruin. He wanted a place that was full of life, and a place that was easy for any future heroes to reach.

“Forget the Great Plateau. I think I want to be buried right here, in Hateno. Maybe even in our yard, or at the foot of the hill.” He squeezed her hand. “We’ll be apart, but I want the next hero to have an easy time of finding me. He needs to know that he isn’t alone.”

Zelda nodded in understanding. “Very well. I can’t say I’m thrilled, but the kids will have an easier time visiting Hateno than the Plateau.”

Link was only the latest incarnation of the hero, but all of them had somehow found their way to a princess named Zelda. Some fell in love with them, as he had. Some fell in love with others. Whenever the next hero appeared, he was glad he would have a chance to meet a new Princess Zelda. 

“Enough talk of death,” said Link. “We have a long life ahead of us. So, let’s live it.”


End file.
